


Family, Friends, Loves

by ms_munechika



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Ambiguous Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Romance, Short & Sweet, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26331547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ms_munechika/pseuds/ms_munechika
Summary: A pretty short (and fluffy) drabble I've been meaning to write down for a while, but haven't been able to for whatever reason. A quiet moment post end of MSQ of 5.30.Some spoilers for end of patch 5.3!
Relationships: Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch & Warrior of Light, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 27
Collections: Final Fantasy XIV - Emet-Selch x WoL Recommendations





	Family, Friends, Loves

She clutched the stone close to her chest, her fingers grasping it tightly as she closed her eyes.

In a moment of need, she had done the same, her thoughts filled with memories of a past self. 

"Azem", as she had once been called.

Still, she heard it not in **her** voice, but the voice of someone who spoke the name with the warmth of the sun depicted on the stone, his tone brimming with affection. A beloved once lost to memory, calling out to a beloved.

"Hades," she breathed out, the name on her lips without any conscious effort. As natural as the turning of the moon and stars.

When she had last done this, the man once known as Emet-Selch, had come to rescue her and her companions from the Void. Yet, then, he was not Emet-Selch, but simply Hades, the man he had been prior to becoming a member of the Convocation and longer still before he was the founding father of the Garlean Empire as Solus zos Galvus. That was, after all, how **he** wanted her to remember him. He had committed her in his memories and it was those that filled the stone. It was only natural that she would think of him first and foremost.

As her eyes opened, she blinked to find herself standing across from her remembered friend, as if part of her had thought she would never be able to do so again. Never mind that he was not the same height of his Amaurotine self, but one as he had been before she ever knew of her true past.

"Hades," she stated, louder this time.

"Aye," he tilted his head to the side, a lopsided smile across his thin lips. There was a true warmth in him now, no melancholy or bitterness in his golden eyes. "You did call for me, didn't you? Or mayhaps you meant for someone else?"

Immediately, tears welled in her eyes and Emet--no, Hades--blinked in surprise, only for her to leap into his arms, holding onto him tightly, as if he might disappear at any moment or that he might be of her own imagination.

"I remember," she gasped between sobs, her face buried in his neck. "I remember everything!"

A broad hand on her back smoothed soothing circles.

"You did very well, my dearest," Hades cooed, returning her embrace. "I knew you would in the end. I always knew you would."

=+=

Hythlodaeus was laughing. Loudly.

And Hades thought he would rather be deaf at the moment, than listen to one of his oldest friends continue laughing... As it were, the man was laughing at Hades, though the latter was not entirely sure what his friend could find so _terribly_ amusing. Smug bastard, he thought though he did not really mean it.

"YOU," Hythlodaeus managed to speak (much to Hades' surprise), "are going to congratulate our dear friend on her appointment??"

Hades frowned. Deeply.

"And, pray tell, why do you find that so amusing?"

"Because you wouldn't let _her_ congratulate you on your appointment, oh great Emet-Selch..."

The other man rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"And what of it? I simply did not want to make a... a fuss over something I did not quite earn."

Hythlodaeus doubled-over, laughing even harder. Hades cocked a brow, not knowing to be surprised or furious. He had been on his way to the Capital to speak with the new "Azem", the title that their friend had been granted, to bid her well. He was, after all, her friend and a (now) fellow Convocation member. Why wouldn't he speak with her?

After idling a while as Hythlodaeus (somehow) calmed down from his recent fit of giggles, Hythlodaeus waved a hand, knowing Hades meant to leave if he did not stop finding such amusement in the situation. After a deep breath, he gazed up, blue eyes to gold.

"You really make a poor showing of how truly dear she is to you, Hades," Hythlodaeus began, his smile softening. "We have been friends, the three of us, for such a long time. Is it not time enough to tell her how you truly feel? What she really means to you?"

"I..." Hades paused, not having considered the option. "I did not want to bother her... Or you, for that matter."

Hythlodaeus shrugged, a grin broadening.

"You are a brother to me, Hades; and she, a sister. Have you never considered how she might feel about you? Besides, if she is to hold the office of Azem, you know she will not stay long in Amaurot for you to watch over every. waking. moment."

There was a long pause and Hades felt heat rise in his cheeks. Did he really...? And how did Hythlodaeus even notice...? Of course, the answer was in his Sight... Still...

"Fine then," Hades half-mumbled, turning his face away. "You make a good point."

"So you admit it, then?"

"What?"

"You love her. You admit that you love her?"

The urge to lower his cowl rose exponentially for Hades. He hated these sorts of conversations. They weren't exactly pragmatic and even if he were to say so, there was no guarantee that she... Hades scowled, crossing his arms.

"Yes," he stated, as resolute as he could be even as Hythlodaeus began to grate on his nerves even more. The other man only smiled as broadly as possible, though a mischievous glint glimmered in his eyes...

There was a sound, a rustle of movement across the grass, and Hades realized immediately that they were not alone.

"You do...?" The voice did not come from Hythlodaeus, but was one distinctly feminine and... all too familiar. Hades whipped around, turning on his heel so fast that the motion caused his hood to fall to his shoulders.

Indeed, standing mere yalms away from him was the newly-appointed Azem, her new mask in her hand with her face, her radiant and beautiful face, bare for him to see. _Dammit all,_ Hades thought. _Damn you, Hythlodeaus._

Even as the thought came, he knew he didn't mean it at all.

Especially not as his most dearest of friends, the one they had been speaking of, smiled in such a way that Hades knew then and there why she had been chosen as Azem, her gaze as warm as the sun on a cool Spring day.

She closed the space quickly, jumping into his arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I've waited so long," she stated, her voice sing-song. "So long to hear you say that."

He would most definitely have to thank his old friend Hythlodaeus later. For never in his life had he felt so very... complete.

=+=

The Warrior of Light smiled at the memory, even though it was partially not her own, as Hades recounted the events, she refusing to let him go for a second. After all, she felt the same as he did then, the feeling of how right it was for her to be with him, for her to hold him and he to hold her. Nothing had ever, before or since, made her feel so... at home.

"I love you," she stated, her voice soft. "Please do not let this be a dream."

"I promise you," Hades replied, "it is not. And even if I must go, know that I will always be by your side."

Now, more than anything, did she feel that everything she had done, everything she had suffered, everything she had gained... all of it had been worth this one moment. To find, finally, a home and a family that was truly hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, I had to. This is mostly headcanon, but I hope you were able to enjoy it! I needed some fluff after a whole bunch of real-life stuff and the emotional runaway train that is patch 5.3. Maybe I'll continue this. Maybe.
> 
> Thank you for reading and kudos/comments are always appreciated (but not mandatory)!
> 
> <3 <3


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